Friday, December 23, 2011

So I was out today buying Christmas presents for my friends at Bloomingdale's, and I was wandering around and came across the Deborah Lippmann nail polish line! I was so excited I decided to treat myself to just one. Recently I've been really into unique colors, especially when buying form pricey lines (these run at $16.00 a piece). So here is the one I chose,

This color is called "Lady Sings the Blues". Though in the picture it looks kind of purplish, its actually a navy blue, with big light blue shimmer flakes in it. It also as smaller silver sparkles in it, which really makes this nail polish that much more fantastic. This polish is perfect for winter and I would defnitley reccomend it. The way the shimmer flakes and sparkles reflect the light is really cool and makes this polish that much more exciting!

Having gone up north for the winter, it's probably 20 degrees colder and while I love the cold and the snow my skin always gets super dry. One of my favorite things to do around the holidays is wear brighter lip colors, but as some of you must know, brighter lips can show off how extreemly dry someones lips can really be. This quick tutorial is something that you can do in the morning before you do your lips and it keeps them silky smooth looking and moisturized throughout the day so you dont have to worry about dry, flaky lips!
You will need:

Toothbrush

Sugar

Vaseline (petroleum jelly)

Your favorite chaptsick (My favorite is the Shea Butter Mini's from Oyivo Exchange- you get lots of them so you can have one in your purse, backpack, etc.! They are also super inexpensive and keep your lips feeling smooth. You can check them out here! http://www.oyivo.com/store/products/Africa%27s-Finest-Shea-Butter-Minis.html)

Lip color of your choice (I recommend stains for everyday in the winter because they are much easier and they make your lips look a lot more natural. More products on your lips in the winter can just accentuate the dryness.)

First, you want to mix a little of the sugar with the petroleum jelly so that you get something that has a similar consistency to a lip scrub that you can get from Lush or Sephora. Next, apply the lip scrub to your lips and rub your lips with the toothbrush to get rid of all the dry skin. If this is too harsh for your lips you can choose either the sugar or the toothbrush to do the exfoliating. The benefit of scrubbing your lips with a toothbrush is that it allows more blood flow, yielding plumper lips. Once you have scrubbed all the dry skin off, wipe the remainder of the jelly off of your lips with a towel. Apply your favorite chapstick and let it sit for 5 minutes before applying your lip color. Finally, put on your favorite bright winter color, mine is the DuWop Twilight Venom (available at Sephora.)

Saturday, December 10, 2011

As much fun as it is to go out and be pampered at a spa, have your feet rubbed, and hands massaged, going out to get manicures and pedicures be pricey and over time can really add up. Last year I had the time to get my nails done once a week, however so far since the start of Junior year i have not been able to carve out time for a single pedicure or manicure. So I've had to compromise and start giving myself a lot more mani-pedi's. The one advantage to this is all that it gives me a reason to buy more nail polish.

In this picture are the things I think are essential for a good home DIY mani or pedi

The Essentials

* Nail Polish Remover

Q-Tips

Hand Lotion/ Foot Lotion

Tweezers

Nail Shaper

*Nail File

Nail Scissors

Cuticle Cutters

*Nail Clippers

Base Coat

*Top Coat

*Cotton Balls
Nail buffer

First off, the starred items are what I think are most essential for any at home Mani or Pedi kit. Let me also note that I did not get all of these things together in a nail kit, I bought most of them separatley at local drug stores such as CVS. However if your looking for a kit Sephora* has one for $30 that has all the nail tools you need for a manicure. Anyway here is my step by step Mani/ Pedi routine

1. Take off any nail polish you already have on

-Any drugstore brand nail polish

2. Apply Lotion,

-For my feet I use my Bliss Foot Patrol and for my hands I like to use my Caudalie Hand and Nail Cream (both products available at Sephora) (You can use any kind of lotion you want I just prefer these two) After applying lotion for extra nourishment I like to open a gel vitamin E table and rub it on my cuticles.

3. Cut nails and cuticles

-Depening on your preference for nail length you can skip this step. And of course only trim your cuticles (with cuticle clippers) if necessary/ if you have any to cut

-Because I like my nails very short I trim mine every time I paint my own nails or get my nails done

4. Shape and Buff nails

-For this step you will need a nail buffer(optional step) and nail file. Use the nail file first to shape your nails so they don't have any jagged edges, and then to shape as you like them, (boxed, rounded, etc..) Then use the nail buffer on both the nail edges and the top of your nails to smooth them and give them some shine.

5. Apply Base Coat

-Applying a base coat will just help your nail polish stay on longer and really stick to the nail. If you don't or want to buy base coat you can put some nail polish remover on a cotton ball and swipe that over the tops of all your nails to take away any oils so that your polish will apply well to the nail.

6. Apply any polish you want!

-When painting your nails, expecially with a new polish be sure not to apply to few or to many coats. Two few coats can leave the color sheer, and two many can make the polish look bulky.

7. Apply one coat of your favorite top coat!

-Top coat does it a lot of things, it makes your your nail polish last longer on your nails, keeps it from chipping, and adds shine. My favorite is Top Coat BY OPI.

-If your going to use a mattifying lacquer such as Matte About You by Essie, then skip the normal top coat and use that one in its place!

Since I first saw that Chanel had a nail polish line out I have been dying to get some of them, and couple weeks ago at Bloomingdales I finally gave into my indulgences and finally bought two. Which I am absolutely in love with. Though they are pricey ($25 a piece) these two colors at least were worth it. What I like about them is that they are not colors you see in every other brand. I think Chanel did a good job coming up with a line with an element exclusive uniqueness that other brands will have a hard time competing with.

"Peridot"

I literally started smiling as I started to write about Peridot. Since I bought this color I have been in love with it since before I even tried it on my nails. What drew me into this color was the fact that I couldn't really tell what color it is. This color is literally magical, when I first applied it (two coats) I was like oh its green-tinted gold, but then when i looked at my nails form a different they were blue. So when you hold your hands at different angles the color changes because it reflects the lights in different ways. I highly reccomend this color, I think it might limited edition so go grab it fast!!! I'm definitley going to get a second one because this color has already become one of my favorite new polishes.

"Black Pearl"

First and foremost let me make it clear that the name of this polish might be a little misleading, just incase the picture doesn't convince you, this polish is not black. Another example of Chanel producing a unique color worth the price. This color comes out a deep grey metallic color with a blue tint. This polish only needs two coats for a saturated look and dries almost like a matte polish. I would definitely recommend this polish to anyone looking for a new winter shade, or dark shade in general.

So when I was last at Sephora, I came across this collection of nail polish I hadn't heard of called Nails Inc. London. They had out some of their Special Effects nail polishes so i decided to grab two of the 3D glitter polishes.

"Sloane Square"

"Connaught Square"

Both of these colors to me just scream party, now when I say party I mean high school, college, concert or club type party, not for fancy events or cocktail party type events. Both of these colors need layers, for Connaught Square, I just applied two or three coats. However for Sloane Square I had to use a silvery base coat (OPI's Lucerne-Tainly look marvelous) for it to take full effect. Both polishes have lots of sparkles in them, which need cannot go without a topcoat because they dry kind of rough. If I were to recommend one of these to you guys I would definitely say Connaught Square the purple sparkles make the nail polish exciting and fun.

Here in D.C. it is starting to get super chilly! And with that cold weather, comes the dreaded dry skin and hair :-(. But have no fear, we beauty girls are here to help combat dryness!

So for the hair:
In the winter you want to be sure that you don't dry your hair out, and unfortunately using too much heat on your hair is the quickest way to do so. It's really best to let your hair air-dry, but what you're going to want to do is tame your hair while it's still wet- before it has time to get unmanageable and frizzy.

Using a leave-in conditioner will begin the process. Product weighs down your hair, so adding a leave-in conditioner will begin a straightening process to your hair and keep it from frizzing. Any type of leave-in conditioner should do the trick! Then, to give my hair an amazingly silky texture, I'm a huge fan of Chi Silk Infusion. I like to add the Chi Silk Infusion to my hair while it's damp to lock in its nice texture at this phase.

Then, while it's just about dry, I add my favoritephytodéfrisant botanical hair relaxing balm. Now this stuff is LITERALLY the bomb. My hair is naturally a little wavy and when I apply this stuff to my hair, it looks like my hair has been straightened!! IT'S AMAZING. So I just brush that through my hair. If my hair is feeling a little drier than usual I add my phyto 7 daily hydrating botanical cream. It adds much needed moisture and makes my hair much softer and healthier looking. Then for shine I reach for either my Moroccan Oil Gold Shimmer Shine Spray or Ojon Shine and Protect Glossing Mist. Can't pick a favorite- they both make my hair so so so shiny! Unfortunately though, I think Ojon discontinued their glossing mist (*cries*). Love both of those products so much.

And that should do it. Good luck bearing the cold- at least now your hair will!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

A few weeks ago I ordered the Urban Decay Naked Palette from Sephora.com. I've been obsessed with it since it came in the mail.

It retails for $48 pretty much anywhere that Urban Decay is sold (Sephora, Ulta, etc.)

The eye shadows are all so beautiful and perfect for a natural look to wear to school or a bolder look to wear out.

My personal favorite is Sidecar, which I usually darken up with a mixture of Naked and Buck in the crease and then a little Virgin to brighten up the inner corner of my eye.

From left to right: Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sidecar, Buck, Half Baked

From left to right: Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted, Hustle, Creep, Gunmetal

It also came with a mini bottle of Urban Decay Primer Potion (which is awesome) and a brush that works very well too. Anyone who loves neutral eye shadows should definitely get this! Even though it's a little bit pricey, it's worth it-- the shadows are unbelievably pigmented and soft!